Spirits Revisited
by Airhead259
Summary: AU - Aang dies in an epic battle with the Fire Lord. Katara is devastated. Formerly known as 'OMG D BEST STOREE EVURR' for April Fools' Day :P
1. Prologue

_EDIT: I changed the summary to normal words fit for human reading *phew*_

_This is not a Prologue I am fond of :P It didn't actually come out the way I had it in my head._

_I've already gotten some constructive crit and I plan to put it to good use for the later chapters, and I might tweak this chapter up a little. Of course, I'll mention if I do ;)_

_So, here we go again._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar._

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Prologue

'_I have to find them.'_

'_He has to win.'_

'_He can't leave me.'_

'_I won't let him!'_

--

Katara forced her way past rows and rows of guards to arrive at a gigantic door engraved with the Fire Nation symbol. She frantically burst through the door only to be met with the sight of an intense conflict. She watched desperately as the Avatar engaged the Fire Lord in battle.

A battle that would only end with death.

The Fire Lord threw many flaming punches at Aang, but he managed to evade each one. The boy attempted to reciprocate with his own earth and fire bending attacks, but Ozai managed to deflect all of them. Both were slowly being worn down.

Aang ducked behind the man, trying to think of a good tactic to defeat him with. That was when he saw the girl standing near the door, panic in her expression.

It was then that he realised that he had to end this soon.

He used his airbending to flip over Ozai, attempting to land in front of him as a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, Ozai saw this coming.

Just as his feet touched down, Aang was hit square in the chest with a powerful bolt of lightning. The energy coursed through him, causing him to yell out in pain. Katara watched in horror, rooted to the spot. As he fell, he turned to her, mouthing a final message.

'_I'm sorry.'_

--

The invasion troops swarmed into the room. Upon seeing the lifeless body of the Avatar, they immediately set upon the Fire Lord. His previous battle had weakened him though, and he eventually proved to be no match for the hordes of warriors, waterbenders and earthbenders present.

Katara did not see any of this. Since Aang's fall, everything seemed to be falling apart around her. It was as if she could see nothing but his lifeless body in front of her. She began to move closer, every step taking an eternity.

--

Sokka and Toph were the last of the troops to enter the room. Sokka's eyes immediately fell upon his sister's distraught form as she held the Avatar's body close to her. One look into her bloodshot eyes, and he knew.

Aang was dead.

Toph knew even before this. She had felt him hit the floor, but knew it was useless to tell Sokka. He would want to see for himself. A few tears escaped her sightless eyes.

'_I'm gonna miss you, Twinkletoes…'_

--

Katara's vision was blurred. She could barely see through the tears that were streaming down her face. She moved her fingers to his wrist, trying to feel a pulse, a heartbeat, some sign of life.

There was nothing.

She held him tighter, whispering his name over and over again, mostly to comfort herself. It did no good; the tears continued to fall and she knew that, no matter how hard she tried, she would never hear his voice again.

'_Why did it have to be him? He didn't deserve it – he didn't deserve ANY of the pain he had to endure! And now…now I'll never see him again…'_

--

A part of Katara died along with Aang that day. And no-one was ever able to do anything to bring it back.

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_EDIT: Another thing I should mention - I know it seems like I wanted Aang to die really fast, but it's not! Honestly! I adore him and I would hate to see him die, but the thing is, I'm horrible at writing fight sequences and I wanted to get that part over with. Besides, it's just a Prologue, right? The main story is yet to come ;P_

_Thanks to those who pointed that out! ^_^_

_Please leave a review if you feel I can improve! XD_


	2. Chapter 1

_I finally wrote this! :D_

_Originally, I was going to write more, but I decided to post what I had. Hopefully, I'll dig up enough inspiration to write the next chapter soon!_

_So like I said before, I didn't like the Prologue. I quite like this chapter though; it seems to have turned out much better than I'd expected. I hope you think so too :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar._

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Chapter 1

The day after the battle at the Palace, Aang had been given a great send-off, his body cremated and the ashes scattered on the wind to represent his free spirit. Since that day, there had been no sign of the next Avatar.

The leaders of the three nations were baffled. Surely there had to be a reason as to why the Avatar had not been reincarnated. No-one knew the answer, and so the world settled into an uneasy peace. Eventually, people worked out their differences and the nations were whole again.

However, Katara was not.

A month had passed since Aang's death and she felt more alone than ever before, despite being surrounded by the rest of her family. They all tried their best to console her and help her move on, but to no avail – she remained inert.

It hadn't taken long for Katara to realise that she loved Aang. It had, however, taken much longer for her to figure out _where_ that love stemmed from, and how strong it was.

'_I loved him…'_ she thought. _'I was __in love__ with him. And I still am.'_

She sighed and looked up from her place at the tea counter. Since the shop was closed for the afternoon, it was almost empty, save for Sokka and Zuko playing pai sho in the far corner of the room. Since she had nothing better to so, she decided to go and watch.

"Ugh! Why do I always lose to you," Sokka groaned loudly.

Zuko shrugged. "I guess it's because you aren't really concentrating. If you'd just…" he trailed off and turned to look at the waterbender that was now observing them. Sokka noticed this and turned around as well.

"Hey sis, what's up?" he asked her, a hint of curiosity in his tone.

"Oh, nothing really," she replied, sounding tired. "I wasn't doing anything, so I thought I'd watch you play. By the way, where are Mai, Toph and Suki?"

"No idea," Sokka stated simply. "They said something about exploring Ba Sing Se…"

"Oh. Okay." was the reply. Zuko looked at her suspiciously.

"There's something off about your tone, Katara. You've been distracted for weeks, ever since the battle. Is it about A-" he was prevented from saying anymore by Sokka, whose hand was now over his mouth.

"Shush!" he hissed. "Don't talk about him. You know Katara's upset about what happened! Try to be more sensitive sometimes, won't you?"

Zuko winced, and then yanked Sokka's hand away from his mouth. He looked up at Katara, who had now turned her gaze away.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have mentioned it…" he began.

"…no, no, it's okay," she stated. "You're right, though. It's just…I've had a lot on my mind these past few weeks."

"Katara…" At the mention of her name, she turned to Sokka, who had now stood up. "You need to let go. He was our friend too. But there's nothing we can do to change what happened…" He moved to place a hand on her shoulder, but hesitated when he saw the look she was giving him. A look of pure hatred.

"You didn't care, did you? All you wanted was to win the war. You never cared about him."

"Don't be ridiculous Katara, of course I did…"

"NO! _No-one_ cared about him the way I did! And no-one cares now, but me!" she yelled. Sokka flinched, but didn't move as his sister broke down into sobs.

"I'm the only one who remembers, the only one who feels like a part of me has been missing ever since that day! I was there, but I didn't do anything to help. It's all my fault…"

Now feeling more confident, Sokka touched his sister's shoulder, then wrapped his arms around her. She continued to cry against his shoulder. At this point, Zuko had also stood up.

"I miss him Sokka; I miss him so much…" Katara muttered, over and over again. Sokka simply patted her back, knowing that there was nothing else he could do to help her.

'_There was only one person who could make her feel better,' _he thought._ 'And now he's gone…'_

He looked at Zuko, silently asking for help. The two had become very close ever since the incident at the Boiling Rock, and were now practically brothers.

Zuko thought for a moment, until it finally dawned upon him.

"Uncle."

Katara, finally having calmed down, pulled away from Sokka. Both siblings stared at Zuko, confused.

"My Uncle has...experienced loss before. He might be able to help you." He explained, looking at Katara.

Her eyes widened. "What happened?"

"I don't know the details," he replied quickly. "But I do know that he doesn't feel the pain of his loss anymore."

Sokka looked at him. "You're starting to sound more like your Uncle every day."

Zuko shrugged. "Anyway, you should talk to him, Katara. He might know how to help you feel better."

She nodded. Then, she smiled for the first time in days.

"Thanks Zuko – I'll definitely do that." With that statement, she slowly turned around and walked out of the room.

Sokka stared after her incredulously. He then turned back to Zuko, who had an equally shocked expression on his face.

"Did she just...?"

"Yeah, I think she did."

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_After watching TBR, I could see Sokka and Zuko having a brotherly relationship, since they seem to relate to each other. Anyway, please R&R!_


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